Chicken and Mushroom Risotto

Most risotto recipes that involve chicken tend to recommend you use chicken breast. Well we’re not going to recommend you use chicken breast here for a couple of reasons: Firstly, it’s expensive. And secondly, it’s a waste of good chicken breast – frying it for 5 minutes or so means you’re left with something rubbery and flavourless, and all for the sake of convenience. So save the chicken breast for some delicious marinade and try this risotto another way…

How to Cook

1. Heat your oven to Gas Mark 5/190C. Arrange the chicken drumsticks and thighs in a roasting tin, drizzle with a small amount of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for approximately 30 minutes, or until crispy and cooked. Remove and leave to one side.

2. Prepare the stock in a saucepan and leave to simmer.

3. While you are waiting for the chicken, prepare the rest of the risotto. Start by heating the petit pois in a small pan of simmering salted water and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, drain and keep to one side.

4. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the onion, garlic and mushrooms with some salt and pepper until softened. Add the Arborio rice to the pan and coat the grains in the oil.

5. Ladle the stock onto the rice bit by bit and keep stirring – it should gradually absorb into the rice. Repeat this for about 15 minutes until most of it has absorbed and the rice is almost cooked.

6. Once the chicken is cooked, remove the meat from the bones and shred into small pieces. Stir these and the petit pois into the risotto, making sure they’re heated through.

7. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and optional parsely. Add any additional seasoning if required.